Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-10


selves beneath the all eifacing hand. The
earth does not pine when the daylight passes
from its peaks; it only sleeps.
But jess had buried herself, and she knew
it. There was no absolute need for her to
have resigned her affection to her sister; she
had done SO of her own will, and at times she
naturally enough regretted it. Self denial is
a stern faced angel. If only we hold him fast
and wrestle with him long enough he will
speak us soft words of happy sound, just as,
if we wait long enough in the darkness of the
night, stars will come to share our loneliness.
Still this is one of those things that time hides
from us and only reveals at his own pleasure;
and so far as jess was concerned, his pleasure
was not yet. Outwardly, however, she
showed no sign of her distress and of the pas
sion which was eating at her heart. She was
pale and silent, it is true but then she had al
ways been remarkable for her pallor and
silence. Only she gave up her singing.
And so the weeks went ON, dreariy enough
for the poor girl, who was doing what other
people did-eatng and drinking, riding and
going to parties like the rest of the Pretoria
world, till at last she began to think that she
had better be going home again. lest she
should wear out her welcome. And yet she
dreaded to do so, mindful of her daily prayer
was going on at Mooifonten she was in al
most complete ignorance. Bessie wrote to
her, of course, and so did her uncle once or
twice, but they did not tell her much of what
she wanted to know. Bessie's letters were, it
is true, full of illusions of what Capt Mel
was doing, hut she did not 60 beyond that.
Her reticence, however, told her observant
sister more than her words. Why was she SO
reticents No doubt because things still hung
in the balance. And then she would think OF
what it all meant for her, and now AMI again
give way to an outburst of passionate jcul-
ousy, which would have been painful cnou h
to witness if anybody could have been there
to SEQ it.
And so the time went on toward Christmas,
for jess, having been warmly pressed to do
so, had settled to stay over Christmas and re-
turn to the farm with the new year. There
had been great deal of talk in the town
about the Beers, but she was too much prcoc-
cupied with her own affairs to pay much at
tenton to it. Nor, indeed, was the public
mind greatly moved; they were so much ac-
customed TO Boer scares at Pretoria and NTH
erto thew had invariably ended in smoke. And
then all of sudden, on the morning of the
18th of December, came the news of the proc
lamation of the republic, and the town WAS
of going into lager, and, anxious as she was
to get away, jess could see no hope of return
ing to the farm till the excitement was over.
Then n day OF two later Conductor Egerton
came limping into Pretoria from the scene of
the disaster at Bronker's Spruit. with the col
ors of the Ninety-fourth regiment tied round
his middle, and such tale to tell that the
blood went to her heart and seemed to stag
nate there as she listened to it.
And after that there was confusion worse
COMPOUNDED. Martial law was proclaimed,
and the town, which was large, struggling
and incapable of defense, was abandoned, the
inhabitants being ordered into laager Oh the
high ground overlooking the city. There
they We're, young and old, sick ard well, deli
cate women and little children, all crowded
together in the open under the cover of the
fort. with nothing but canvas tents, wagons
and sheds to shelter them from the fierce SUM
mer suns and rains. jess had to share
wagon with her friend and her friends sister
and mother and found it rather n tight fit
even to lie down. Sleep, with all the noises
of the camp going on round her, was a prac-
teal impossibility.
1t was about o'clock on the day following
that first miserable night in the lager when,
by the last mail that passed into Pretoria she
got Bessie's letter announcing her engage
ment to John. She took her letter and went
some way from the camp to the side of Signal
Hill, where she was not likely to be disturbed,
and, finding a nook shaded III by mmosa
trees, sat down and broke the envelope. Be
fore she had got to the foot of the first page she
saw what was coming and set her teeth. Then
she read the long letter through from begin
ming to end without flinching, though the
words of affection seemed to burn her SO it
had come at last Well, she expected it. and
had plotted to bring it about, so really there
was no reason in the world why she should
feel disappointed On the contrary, she
ought to rejoice, and for little while she
really did rejoice in her sisters he ppiness 1t
made her happy to think that Bessie, whom
she dearly loved was happy.
| And yet she felt angry with John with that
sort of anger which we feel against those who
have blindly injured us. Why should he
have it in his power to hurt her 500 Still she
hoped that he would be happy with Bessie,
and then she hoped that these wretched
Beers would take Pretoria, and that she
would be shot or put out of the way some
how. She had no heart for life; all the color
had faded from her sky. What was she to
do with herself! She would not stop on the
| farm after John and Bessie were married:
| she was quite clear as to that; nor, if she
could avoid it, would she return there before
they we're married She would see him no
| more, no morel Alas, that she had ever seen
| him.
Feeling somewhat happier, or at any rate
calmer, in this determination, she rose to re-
turn to the noisy camp, extending her walk,
however, by making a detour toward the
| Heidelberg road, for she was anxious to be rs
long alone as she could She had been walk
ing some ten minutes when she caught sight
of cart that seemed familiar to her, with
| three horses harnessed in front of it and one
tied on behind, which were also familiar
| There were a lot of men walking alongside of
the cart, all talking eagerly. She halted to
let tho little procession go by, when suddenly
she perceived John Mel among the men and
recognized the Zulu Mouti on the box There
was the man whom she had just vowed never
to see again, and the sight of him seemed to
take all her strength out of her. so that she
felt inclined to sink involuntarily upon the
val lie